Toy building construction.



A. C. GILBERT.

TOY auuome CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. l5. 9H5- 1,230,887. Patnted June 26, 1917.

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A. C. GILBERT.

TOY BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 15. 19.16.

1 ,230,887. Patented June 26, 1917.

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A. C. GILBERT.

TOY BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION men FEB. 15. 1916.

1,230,887. Patentd June 26,1917.

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ALFRED C. GILBERT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE A. C. GILBERT COMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

TOY BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11119 26, 191?.

Application filed February 15, 1916. Serial No. 78,443.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED C. GILBERT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toy Building Construction, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to toy building construction, and more particularly to a roof construction for miniature houses, including a plurality of miniature shingles, blocks or the like, and means for holding them in assembled relation. The invention relates more especially to toy building structures of the type described in my application Serial No. 67 ,613, and provides a satisfactory roof for a building whose side walls are built up in the manner described in said application, althoughvmy improved'roof construction can be used with other types of toy buildings.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide simple, convenient means for holding a plurality of separate shingles, blocks or the like in assembled relation in the roof structure. a

The invention also aims to improve the general construction of devices of the class to which I have referred.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a toy house embodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary inside view of a portion of the roof;

Fig. 4: is an enlarged detail view;

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the chimney and the means for holding the same in place;

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of one of the shingles, looking toward the under surface thereof;

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of a double shingle, such as used at the ridge of the roof; and I Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the end portion of one of the anchoring rods.

As previously stated, the walls of the toy house or other structure may be built up in the manner described in my application Serial No. 67,613, in which case the walls are constituted by a plurality of sheet metal blocks 10, although this is not a material feature of the present invention. In the embodiment shown, the roof comprises two rafter members 11 at each end of the build ing arranged at such an angle to the horizontal as to give the desired pitch, and suitably interconnected at their meeting ends, which, are located at the ridge portion of the roof. Between each rafter member 11 and the corresponding rafter member at the opposite end of the building, a plurality of anchoring rods 12 extend, and these serve as a mounting for a plurality of shingles or like elements 13. In the particular form shown, the rafter members 11 are mounted directly on the end walls 14 of the building, which are suitably inclined at the sides to receive them, but this is not essential in all aspectsof the invention. Furthermore, suit able means are employed for interconnecting the roof with the side walls of the building, for example, by connecting one or more of the anchoring rods 12 to the framework on which the blocks 10 are supported. For example, a number of connecting strips 15, such as shown in Fig. 1, may be employed, each strip having a perforation to engage one of the anchoring rods 12, and also having at the opposite end a perforation for a bolt, by which it may be clamped to one of the horizontal strips of the framework supporting the blocks 10 at the corresponding end of the building.

I have discovered that the end members or rafters 11 may be satisfactorily constituted by sheet metal channels, such as those used as sill members in the building described in my application previously identified. Each of these channeled members preferably comprises a body portion 16 having inwardly turned flanges 17 extending along the side edges thereof. Each of the flanges 17 is provided with a longitudinal row of equidistant perforations 18, the perforations of one flange being in registry with those of the other flange. These perforations 18 serve as sockets for the anchoring rods 12. Preferably, the flanges 17 are of less depth than the body portion 16 of the rafter member, but at one end an interal flange or extension 19 on the sheet i netal blank, which is bent inward at right angles, is of a depth corresponding to the width of the portion 16, so as to make the rafter perfectly square at the end when connected with another rafter, as shown, for example, at the upper part of Fig. 2. At the other end of the rafter, the latter is of forked shape, the flanges 17 being narrowed, as shown at 17, and a square extension 16 on the part 16 being bent inward between the flanges 17. In order to secure two of the rafter members together at the ridge portion of the roof, the squared off end of one member is inserted into the forked end of the other member, and said members are then suitably interlocked, for example, by one of the anchoring rods 12. This rod, which is located at the ridge of the roof, passes through openings 18 in the plates or extensions 17 and through registering openings 18 in the end portion of the rafter member which is straddled by said plates or extensions. The deep end flange 19 completely fills in and finishes off the joint, being as deep as the length of the plates or extensions 17 and thus a good finish is produced at the joint between the two interconnected rafter members, in spite of the compara tively small amount of metal in the shallow flanges 17.

In order that each rod 12 may be locked in the rafter members at the respective ends thereof, said rod is preferably provided near each extremity with small diametrically located wings 20, as shown in detail in Fig. 8. The openings or perforations 18, are of special outline to cooperate with these wings. As the rod is inserted through one of the inner openings 18 of a rafter member, the wings 20 pass through diametrically located cut-away portions 12 in the edge of the opening 18, after which the rod is turned so as to shift the wings 20 out of registry with the recesses 12 and thereby lock the parts detachably together. In this manner, the rod may be detachably connected with the rafter members at the respective ends. In the form shown, each rod is anchored in two raftermembers at the respective ends of the building, with the exception, however, of the rod at the ridge of the roof, which'engages and interconnects two rafter members at each end of the building, and also interconnects the two pairs of rafter members. In the form shown, the rods 12 serve as anchoring devices for a plurality of shingle members 13, as previously indicated, but

equivalent members may, of course, be employed, Each shingle member 13 is constructed of a flat sheet metal plate having means such as bent up portions 21 for detachably engaging one of the anchoring rods. In the particular form shown, the body portion 22 of each shingle member18 is provided at one end with rearwardly bent l igs having perforations 23 which register with each other, and through which one of the anchoring rods is passed. The shingle members engaging adjacent anchoring rods are arranged in staggered relation like ordinary shingles, and the shingles supported at their upper edges by one anchoring rod hang down and are supported from beneath by the shingles which are attached to the rod imn'iediately below the first mentioned rod, and so on. In this manner, a shingle loosely suspended by one of the anchoring rods by means of the perforated lugs, or their equivalents, is indirectly supported by the next anchoring rod in the proper position flatwise of the'roof.

The shingles which are used at the ridge if of the roof are preferably what I term double shingles, as shown at 13'. Each of the double shingles is formed of a single metal blank bent to present two plates extending at an angle to each other, and one of these plates is provided with perforated lugs 21 similar to those previously described, which in this case are located in the angle between the two plates, as shown in Fig. 7. It will be observed thatin the form shown in Fig. 7, the lugs 21 projecting rearwardly from one of the plates 13 serve as a support for the other plate 13.

If it is desired to provide the toy house with a chimney, the construction shown in Fig. 5, may be advantageously employed. By preference, I bend up a hollow rectangular body .21 simulating a chimney from a single blank of sheet metal, the meeting edges of which are interconnected by suitable means, as by soldering, and this chimney is held in place by engaging one or more of the anchoring rods 12. In the particular example illustrated, the opposite walls of the chimney are provided with registering perforations through which the anchoring rod at the ridge of the roof is passed in assembling the roof, so that when the parts are completely assembled, the chimney is firmly held in place by this anchoring'rod. The under portion of the chimney is cut away to conform generallyto the contour of the roof, so that the lower edge portions 22 of the chimney rest snugly against certain of the shingle members. The chimney is preferably painted to simulate brickwork, as shown in Fig.5.

As has been previously intimated, the precise form of the shingles or other sheathing members which detachably engage the an choring rods, or their equivalents, for closing in the open framework of the roof mav be considerably varied within certain aspects of the invention. Various changes in this and other respects may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined. in the claims. 1

I do not claim broadly herein a sheet metal channel member forked at one end and squared off at the opposite end, or other features claimed in my application, Serial No. 67613.

lVhat I claim is: I

1. In a toy roof construction, the combination of parallel rafter members having perforations, anchoring rods detachably engaging said perforations and extending between said rafter members, and a plurality of metal sheathing members having holes engaging said anchoring rods; substantially as described.

2. In a toy roof construction, the combination of parallel rafter members, anchoring rods detachably engaging said members and extending between the same, and a plurality of sheathing members having holes engaging said anchoring rods, each of said sheathing members being supported by at least two of said rods.

3. In a toy roof construction, the combination of parallel rafter members, anchoring rods detachably supported by said members and extending between the same, and a plurality of sheathing members detachably engaging said rods, said sheathing members being arranged in longitudinal rows with the members of adjacent rows in staggered relation.

4:. In a toy roof construction, the combination of parallel rafter members, anchoring rods detachably engaging said members and extending therebetween, and a plurality of sheathing members having holes engaging said rods, said sheathing members arranged in staggered rows, and each sheathing member being supported on at least two of said rods.

5. In a toy roof construction, the combination of channeled sheet metal rafter members and anchoring rods detachably engaging the same; substantially as described.

6. In a toy roof construction, parallel rafter members constituted by sheet metal channels, each having a longitudinal row of perforations in both of the side flanges thereof, and anchoring rods engaging said perforations; substantially as described.

7. In a toy roof construction, a rafter member constituted by a sheet metal channel forked at the ridge of the roof, a second rafter member engaging the forked portion of the first, and means for detachably securing said rafter members together; substantially as described.

8. In a toy roof construction, the combination of an anchoring rod and a sheet metal shingle member having rearwardly bent lugs engaging said anchoring rod; substantially as described.

9. In a toy roof construction, the combination of a framework, a pair of parallel rods supported thereby but detachable therefrom, and a plurality of detachable sheathing members supported by said rods alongside each other, each of said sheathing members constructed of sheet metal and supported on both rods; substantially as described.

10. In a toy roof construction, a plurality of anchoring rods arranged in parallel relation, and a plurality of shingle members each swingingly supported on one of said rods substantially as described.

11. In a toy roof construction, parallel rafter members comprising sheet metal channels having perforations in the side flangesthereof, anchoring devices extending between said rafter members and engaging the perforations of the respective rafter members, means for preventing displacement of said anchoring devices from said rafter members, and sheathing members supported and anchored by said anchoring devices; substantially as described.

12. The combination with a toy roof structure, including a longitudinal rod, of a chimney engaging said rod; substantially as described.

13. The combination with a toy roof structure having a rod running along the ridge of the roof, of a chimney having perforations through which said rod extends whereby the chimney is secured to the roof; substantially as described. I 14. In a toy building structure, the combination of a frame, a plurality of blocks supported thereby so as to form the side walls of the building, rafter members for the roof rods extending between and connecting said rafter members, and means for connecting at least one of said rods with said frame; substantially as described.

15. In a toy roof construction, the combination of supporting members arranged at an angle to each other at each end of the building, means for detachably interconnect-' ing the supporting members at each end of the building at the ridge portion of the roof, a framework detachably supported by said supporting members, and sheathing means detachably engaged with said framework; substantially as described.

16. In a toy roof, the combination of parallel raftermernbers, anchoring rods supported thereby, and a plurality of metal sheathing members having holes engaging said rods, said sheathing members arranged in parallel rows lengthwise of the roof, with the members of adjacent rows in staggered relation and each of said metal sheathing members being supported on at least two adjacent rods.

17. In a toy roof, a pair of inclined rafter members at one end of the roof having meeting ends, a ridge rod detachably interconnecting said meeting ends, a plurality of other rods supported by said members parallel to said ridge, rod and sheathing members engaging said rods.

18. In a toy roof construction, the combination of a framework, a pair of parallel rods supported thereby but detachable therefrom, and a plurality Of. detachable sheathing members supported by said rods alongside each other, each of said sheathing members constructed of sheet metal and supported on. both rods and having a. perforated lug engaging one of said rods; substantially as described.

19. In a toy roof, a pair of inclined rafter members having parts Which Overlap each other: at the ridge of the roof, said 0verlap= ping parts provided With registering perf0- rations, a ridge rod passing through said registering perforations and detaehably interconnecting said rafter members, and 15 CQpj of, this Pfi'fifinl may h btained for five cents 6.391 2y. addressiug the, Commissioner of Patents. w ai a as" 

